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ReMarkable 2 vs Kindle scribe: Which digital notepad is worth your money?

Want to up your note-taking game? Here’s what our tech expert found when testing the two devices

Steve Hogarty
Thursday 05 September 2024 08:47 EDT
Digital notepads offer a distraction-free zone for handwriting, sketching, and PDF editing
Digital notepads offer a distraction-free zone for handwriting, sketching, and PDF editing (The Independent)

The reMarkable 2 tablet is a digital notepad with a Kindle-style e-ink display, which aims to fully replace your tattered old Moleskine, offering a distraction-free zone for handwriting, sketching and PDF editing. 

Unlike traditional tablets, with glass screens and backlit displays, the reMarkable 2 uses e-ink technology, the same found in Kindle ereaders. Scribble on the screen with the reMarkable marker, and your handwriting convincingly appears under your pen-tip, as though you’re writing on paper.

As you would hope, the reMarkable 2 genuinely replicates the sensation of scribbling notes on mashed-up tree pulp. The matte-textured surface of the tablet, combined with the lack of screen glare and the super-responsive refresh rate creates an unnervingly authentic writing experience. 

The included marker stylus (opt for the marker plus for a handy “eraser”, which lets you rub the end of the stylus on the display to erase mistakes) glides across the display with just the right degree of friction, registering 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, for natural-looking strokes. 

So, how is the £429 gadget any more convenient than simply writing on paper with a 99p biro? If you’re a prolific notetaker, regularly share your workings, and are particularly prone to losing your notes, the tablet comes into its own. But how does it compare to the Kindle scribe? We put both devices to the test, to find out.

How we tested

Our tester in action with the digital notepads
Our tester in action with the digital notepads (The Independent/Steve Hogarty)

We’ve been scribbling away on the Kindle scribe for months, and the reMarkable 2 for three weeks, to compare and contrast the digital notepads. We’ve used each for copious note-taking during meetings and presentations, at the office, at home and when travelling to conferences. We sign a lot of contracts as part of our work, so the ease with which we could transfer PDFs to the notepad for signing was an important feature. We also used each device as our primary ereader, swapping out our current favourite – the Kindle oasis – in favour of the bigger displays. Keep scrolling to find out how we got on.

ReMarkable 2 with marker plus

ReMarkable best lip liner review indybest
  • Dimensions: 187mm x 246mm x 4.7mm
  • Weight: 403.5g
  • Stylus: Included
  • Screen size: 10.3in
  • Resolution: 1,872 x 1,404px
  • Battery life: Up to two weeks
  • Backlight: No
  • Why we love it
    • Lots of great organisational features
    • Sign and annotate PDFs
    • Optional keyboard folio
    • Beautiful piece of technology
  • Take note
    • Singularly focused on being a digital notepad
    • Handwriting-to-text conversion isn’t always accurate

Razor-thin and unbelievably lightweight, this device has a sleek design and joyously minimalist user interface. You can create separate notebooks, organise them into folders, and choose from templates such as ruled and graph paper, or to-do list checkboxes. You can export your doodles and notes as PDFs, or select your chicken scratches and convert them into editable text. You’ve also got effectively infinite writing space to work with – although, we doubt that spending on traditional notepads is making a serious dent in anyone’s bottom line.

Another clever use case is the ability to sign and annotate PDFs but, again, services such as Docusign and the broad acceptance of digital signatures make the feature less essential for everyday users. You can also PDF crosswords and puzzles

Is all that enough to warrant the price? Probably not, but reMarkable seems to recognise it’s got a niche, super-premium product on its hands. This is a real statement gadget – an executive toy for serious notetakers. Whip one out during a meeting and it will never fail to attract attention.

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This device is singularly focused on being a digital notepad, rather than a tablet or even an ebook reader. Although you can transfer epub book files to the device and convert web pages to PDF to read later, it’s a relatively fiddly process and, in the case of web pages, it doesn’t always work well. The optional keyboard folio case lets you type notes, too, but, by that point, you might as well be using a full laptop or a regular tablet.

Meanwhile, some weird shortcomings seem easy to fix. You can’t search your handwritten notes, so, unless you’re fastidious about organising your files, your important information can get buried somewhere on page 12 of notebook five. The handwriting-to-text conversion isn’t always accurate, particularly if you’ve got terrible handwriting, and usually requires some edits to tidy up. While the marker magnetically attaches to the tablet anywhere, it can’t be secured, so, it could easily become lost in a bag.

Priced at £429 with the marker plus, the device is also available for £389 with the standard marker.

I’m a little too attached to my beaten-up, water-damaged Moleskine to make the switch to the reMarkable 2 for good but, for those seeking a distraction-free writing experience and who value the feel of pen on paper, it’s a compelling proposition as well as a beautiful piece of technology.

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Amazon Kindle scribe

Kindle scribe e-reader indybest
  • Dimensions: 196mm x 229mm x 5.8mm
  • Weight: 433g
  • Stylus: Included
  • Screen size: 10.2in
  • Resolution: 300dpi
  • Battery life: Around four weeks
  • Backlight: Yes
  • Why we love it
    • Suited to reading on the go
    • Lightweight and streamline
    • Includes a high-performing stylus
    • Import your own compatible documents, such as PDFs or Word files
    • Excellent battery life
    • Ideal for students or professionals
  • Take note
    • Lower resolution
    • Slightly slower stylus

This is the first Kindle you can write on (well, without ruining your device). It’s a large-screen ereader that doubles as a digital notepad, enabling you to annotate ebooks and documents, make handwritten notes, and even doodle in a dedicated sketchbook, all using the included stylus. 

Priced at £329.99 for the basic 16GB model (rising to £379.99 for 32GB of storage and the premium pen), the Kindle scribe is significantly more expensive than Amazon’s other ereaders, such as the Kindle paperwhite (from £149.99, Amazon.co.uk) and the Kindle oasis (from £335.10, Amazon.co.uk), both of which have higher-resolution screens and smaller form factors better suited to reading on the go.

The scribe’s higher price tag is partly justified by the device’s premium design. Like the priciest Kindle oasis, the scribe features an asymmetric design, with one edge thicker than the other, which helps with grip and makes the device feel less bulky in hand, despite the larger screen size. 

The main draw here, however, is the inclusion of a stylus for note-taking. It’s a similar experience to using the reMarkable 2 but with some key differences. 

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You can’t write directly onto ebooks from Amazon’s Kindle store. Instead, you add virtual sticky notes to individual pages. Tap on a highlighted passage of text in an ebook and you can scrawl your thoughts onto a digital notepad linked to that specific line of text. 

To experience the full potential of the scribe’s note-taking abilities, you can import your own compatible documents, such as PDFs or Word files, and doodle all over them. Like the reMarkable 2, that makes the Kindle scribe a great solution for signing documents in your own handwriting. Just email yourself the PDF, add your marks and email it back to yourself.

There are a few downsides to the Kindle scribe, though none of them are deal-breakers. The 10.2in screen is big and bright, but the 300PPI resolution is lower than that found on Amazon’s cheaper ereaders. That’s not a huge problem, since the lower resolution helps extend battery life (which is excellent – expect to get more than a month of use from a single charge), but text can look a little less crisp on the scribe, especially if you’re used to the pin-sharp text of the Kindle paperwhite or oasis.

The stylus is fractions of a second slower to respond than the reMarkable 2, meaning the illusion of writing on paper is slightly less convincing. Then again, this is partly because the Kindle scribe has an additional layer under the display, with front lighting for reading and writing in the dark, something the reMarkable 2 doesn’t have.

So, who is the Kindle scribe for? It’s not cheap, so casual readers are likely better served by one of Amazon’s cheaper ereaders but, if you’re a student or professional who reads and annotates a lot of documents, or if you’re simply looking for a more versatile ereader that doubles as a digital notepad, the Kindle scribe is a great option.

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The verdict: ReMarkable 2 vs Kindle scribe

If you want an ebook reader first and a sketchbook second, Amazon’s scribe is the more sensible option of the two devices. The walled-garden of the Kindle store has its own drawbacks, but remains the easiest and most seamless way to read ebooks.

For truly distraction-free notetaking, the reMarkable 2 is the more dedicated and accomplished digital notebook. It’s slimmer and lighter, the writing experience is better, it looks smarter and it trims away many of the usual tablet features – such as a web browser or a bookstore heaving with the latest novels – that might tempt you away from your writing. It’s expensive, particularly once you add a folio and the premium marker stylus, but it’s undoubtedly a digital notepad for penning purists.

For more hi-tech bookworm must-haves, check out our round-up of the best ereaders

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